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Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said that the over N1 trillion expected to be saved from withdrawal of electricity subsidy will be reinvested in improving power supply and the provision of social services.
The minister stated this on Saturday while featuring as a guest on Hannu Da Yawa, a Hausa interview programme of Radio Nigeria Kaduna.
He said the disproportionate amount of electricity subsidy, approximately 40%, is benefiting only about 15% of the electricity consumer population, comprising affluent individuals and industrial clusters, who enjoy about 20 hours of electricity.
“It is essential to emphasize that the funds to be saved from the withdrawal of electricity subsidy will be reinvested in enhancing power supply across the country and improving other vital social services such as health and education,” Idris said.
He said 85 per cent of the population who falls under the different categorizations of the new electricity supply regime still enjoy subsidy.
He said the new Electricity Act, signed by President Bola Tinubu, has strengthened the governance structure of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and empowers it to place severe sanctions on electricity distribution companies for infractions relating to billings and supply of electricity to consumers.
While commenting on the post-fuel subsidy intervention programmes, Idris said the supply of N100 billion worth of CNG buses is still on track as the specification of the buses are not bought off the shelf.
He said the government would soon launch CNG conversion centres across the country to encourage Nigerians to convert their vehicles from fuel consumption to CNG to reduce the cost of transportation.
The minister said further that the committee set up by the President to review the operational mechanism of the National Social Investment Programme has submitted its report to pave the way for the resumption of the programmes.
According to the minister, 15 million vulnerable households will receive N25,000 Conditional Cash Transfers for three months among other interventions.
The minister dismissed insinuations in some quarters that the Tinubu administration is out to shortchange the northern part of the country, stressing that the federal government would continue to invest funds in the development of projects in the north.
Also commenting on the agricultural sector, the minister said the federal government has expanded the cultivation of wheat, rice, cassava, and maize, under the Dry Season Farming Initiative, on about 500,000 hectares of farmland.
“The President has mandated us to go out and feel the pulse of the nation and report back to him.
“We were in Dutse, Auyo, and Hadejia and interacted with the farmers about the successes of the dry season farming in those areas,” Idris said.
The minister said Kebbi state is now a hub of tomato farming and processing in the country through collaboration with a leading food processing firm, GB Foods, which has set up a sprawling factory for the production of tomato paste.
He said many farmers, mostly women are now involved in tomato farming in Kebbi State because of the enabling environment and support from the off-taker, GB Foods, which has shown a remarkable commitment to doing business in Nigeria.
By John Shiklam in Kaduna
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